Last week, the upper torso of an anonymous woman appeared on the front page of the New York Times — and caused a bit of a stir. While the woman remains anonymous, she has written a letter responding to Times readers.

Considering the New York Times' general hesitancy to publish anything remotely scandalous…
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The woman, a 28-year-old Israeli, says she thought the photograph "was powerful and told my story." She adds: "I am a proud, young Jewish woman who had breast cancer, and I have a scar that proves it."

And:

I am not ashamed or embarrassed by the scar. Most of my breast was not exposed and the small part that was does not make the picture "cheap." I think it's very artistic.

She also explains why she remains anonymous:

I agreed to publish the photo since I wanted to raise awareness, but I decided to leave my identity unknown because I didn't want to become famous because I had cancer. The cancer I fought this past year is a part of me, but it's not who I am. It's not me.